Coronavirus/Covid-19 Discussion Thread

[Khan]

 

 

Agree.  On both counts.

 

Above all else, people need to remain calm.  However, when you see people raiding grocery store shelves for things like toilet paper (!?), or going online and spreading misinformation, conspiracy theories and doomsday advice, it isn't easy to do.  I struggle daily with depression- and anxiety-related issues, so the LAST thing someone like ME needs to see is other people panicking and acting irrationally, because that just amplifies my own issues.

 

My advice: if you're feeling overloaded emotionally by all the information (and "information") that keeps coming out about this virus, then do yourself a favor and "unplug" from social media and the news for awhile.  The CDC and WHO have issued all the precautions you need to take to help you (and your loved ones) deal with this problem.

 

 

Okay, why are people hoarding bottled water?  Has the CDC/NIH/WHO warned us not to use tap water?

 

Meanwhile, at every grocery store I've gone to, hand soaps (some anti-bacterial, some not), body washes, shampoos/conditioners and deodorants languish on the shelves.

 

People REALLY need to stop and think, lol.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Khan

[Vee]

 

[dragonflies]

It's about HOARDING. You don't need 144 rolls of tp for a 2 week quarantine, if you so, then you best be seeing a different kind of doctor.

 

I thankfully have enough TP to get by for now, but every store is SOLD OUT.

[Khan]

 

ICAM.  I don't knock those who choose to self-quarantine out of concern for others.  IMO, protecting the elderly and immunity-compromised should be our top priority right now.  But, on the other hand, we can't shut down everything forever, or even for an extended period of time (meaning, more than a couple of weeks).  At some point, we'll need to know what to do next.

 

Unfortunately, I don't believe our current administration will have the answers.  It'll have to be up to our state and local governments -- just as it has been thus far -- to inform us when it's okay to resume some semblance of our normal routines.

 

 

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Edited March 15, 2020 by Khan

[DramatistDreamer]

This jerk now claims that he will likely donate his stockpile, backtracking from his previous assertion that he would try to sell the items locally, which is also a backtrack from his initial excuses that he was providing a public service by buying up all the local stock and selling items on Amazon for jacked up prices. Now that Amazon (who themselves bowed to intense public scrutiny and criticism for providing a platform for price gouging) and Ebay have blocked price gougers like this guy, he's changing his tune.

An utter lack of ethics all around.

 

[Khan]

 

If we end up re-electing that a-hole in November after THIS mess, then I'm perfectly prepared to stow away on a boat or plane, leave behind my loved ones and head for a nation with more responsible leaders.  Seriously.  I'm not gonna f**king die, because my fellow Americans are a rotten electorate.

[dragonflies]

People like that guy should be charged with a felony. Seriously surgical masks, when hospital's are running out? WT ever loving F?

[Khan]

 

Kevin Stitt is our state's answer to Donald Trump.  He, too, keeps proving how incompetent he is at leading people.

 

When the CDC and the local media reported that we had 2-3 positive cases of coronavirus, Gov. Stitt dragged his feet on closing our schools, claiming he wanted to see more evidence of community spreading before taking such action.  (Friend/former high school classmate: "If you see community spreading, it's already too late.").  Schools did close, of course, but I think they did so independently of his judgment.

 

 

Here's my question: where did he get the money to BUY all that stuff?  I mean, he somehow purchased 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer, while Mama Khan and I are out here, with our maxed-out credit cards, clipping coupons for free haircuts (and looking like [!@#$%^&*] in the process).  That just does not seem fair.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Khan

[DRW50]

 

If I could I probably would too (although at this point I don't think anybody wants us unless we're packing Jeff Bezos type cash).

 

I was just thinking about what you said about not focusing so much on social media. I've seen some beautiful images recently, from people in Spain and Italy showing solidarity, yet all I see with Americans is so many dumbasses who are bragging about going out.

 

 

 

So many people here just don't care. They are so nihilistic, they've given up. They don't care if they die and they don't care if we die. If you don't see this, you see those idiots who go on Twitter talking about boomer removers or even bragging about how their 9 or 10 year old children are talking about boomer removers. 

 

This country is so full of sick people, days like today it's hard to have any hope. All I can hope is that these monsters are in a minority and not able to do real damage.

[DramatistDreamer]

I've been glancing through the posts that I've missed in this growing thread, mainly to make sure that I'm not duplicating a post that someone has already posted previously (which seems to be happening quite a bit in this thread) and am seeing some comparisons between China and South Korea?  Really? I hope not. You cannot compare S. Korea, a democratic country with 51 million people to China, an autocratic country with 1 billion people. It's absurd. S. Korea has been doing some things that all countries should be replicating like testing many people every day (on average Korea was testing at least 10,000 people per day, employing accessible testing mechanisms like drive-through testing at specialized off-site locations but even the way S. Korea was able to trace members of that cult/church to locate people from testing is something that also made use of S. Korea's technology and culture (the head of that church was made to come in public, bow and issue a public apology as well as a promise to cooperate with the authorities) is not easily employed in other countries.

There are definitely things that the Western/rich countries have to learn from smaller countries, particularly ones that have endured other pandemics and epidemics and health crises but please recognize the cultural, political and historical differences that differentiate countries and their methods for addressing crises.

 

More testing though, is definitely something that every country should be doing.  If the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere can manage to do this, the U.S. definitely has no excuse to at least ramp up testing. Then again, people in Haiti still have vivid memories of the deadly cholera outbreak that occurred in the wake of the 2010 earthquake caused by U.N. peacekeeping forces dumping waste into rivers and streams, infecting the water system.

 

 

It's in the article. He had already been a third party seller on Amazon before he decided to buy "pandemic" surplus supplies from a local outfit that had gone out of business. Having gotten away with initial sales, he and his brother decided to ramp up the search for more supplies but was shut out by Amazon, who shut his online reseller outfit down.

[dragonflies]

Is it wrong I hope that guy's employer sees what trash he is by doing that and fires his ass

[Khan]

 

Chances are, though, Matt Colvin will just end up on "The Bachelor" or "Big Brother."

 

 

Yeah, I read that.  But, he managed to have enough cash on hand to make that big of a purchase?  He made THAT kind of money being a third party seller?

Edited March 15, 2020 by Khan

[DramatistDreamer]

 

That's right, I forgot all about this!

 

[dragonflies]

I gotta admit Governor DeWine is doing everything he can to contain this. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

There was a NYT article some months back about some people who were actually able to make a full-time business selling on Amazon's marketplace.  So, depending on what they're selling, yeah, I do think it is possible to make that kind of money...for now. This could change since 3rd party sellers have recently been getting a poor reputation for often being linked with selling counterfeit goods.

Edited March 15, 2020 by DramatistDreamer